The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-22
FIVE NOTABLE MEN.
The Manners and Appearances OF the
Interstate Commissioners.

Interstate Commissioners.
From Washington Letter to the PhtIddetphtd
| Press.
The Interstate Commerce Commissioners
show as many radical differences in appear
ance as any five men who could have been
selected. They vary in height all the way
from the giant Walker of Vermont, down
to the five foot six or seven inches Of Judge
Cooley, and in girth again from the com
Portable proportions of Mr.. Walkers waist
band all the way to the narrow. chest and
stomach that the Judges small Walstcoat
always covers too much. The Judge, as
matter of fact, is the Disappointing Inquire
in the commission. The popular impression
about him, gained very likely from
the artistic woOdcutS that take
the place of reading matter in the Western
newspapers has been that he was stout, solid
and somewhere about 60 His face was sup
posed to be round and jolly, his beard shaved
off little for convenience in getting at his
mouth, and his weight, which seemed in the
pictures to be one of his principal features,
amply sufficient to keep up his Judicial dig
nifty To get at the truth about his appear
ance you have to picture exactly the oppo-
site kind of man He is slender, anxious
looking and, for so aggressive man, very
modest in speech and manner. He talks
|
carefully over what was said, and
in mere formal matters is courte-
Gus, polite and considerable to
very pleasant degree. On matters of
business his manner to a close observer is
changed. He is as polite as before and just
as considerate, but something about him in
dictates that he has made up his mind, and,
whether pleasant or unpleasant, must carry
his decision out. He is evidently not the
kind of q man to say No roughly but if he
says it even in his most uncertain and de-
predatory way there is something about 1t
that would evidently make argument worse
than useless. His thin gray hair and the
lines in his face show the traces of long
wrestling with hard problems, and his high
forehead gives some measure Of his ability.
Altogether he is not unlike clergyman in
appearance, and his deferential way of
standing up for his principles does not do
anything to lessen the likeness.
A wELL-KN0wN MEMBER.
Mr.. Morrison, the second member of the
| board, is the most talked of and least I'M
derstood man in public life in the country.
A great many people offer the explanation
for the difficulty in understanding him that
there is nothing in him to understand, and
it is very serious question often whether
they are not more than half right. Mr..
Morrison is accessible always, and in his
way courteous, but nobody comes away
| from his room knowing more than when he
went in. For telling what won't be done he
| has very few superiors but when it comes
down to a matter of either information or
opinion there is nothing to be got from him.
| On the tariff question which has been his
chief stock in trade, there is a very well
defined opinion here that his clerk knows a
great deal more than he does. He never
| gave away any of his information at any
rate, and probably was right in not reduc-
cling the stock.
In the commission so far he has had very
little to say, nominating Mr. Cooley for
chairman because it was one of the arrange
ments between himself, Mr.. Carlisle and the
President that he should do so, and then set
ting back to q little ordinary committee
work in arranging about rooms and place
of business. He will hardly be as promi
nent on the commission as in the House, and
especially will not shine while Carlisle and
the Breckinridges are away.
Morrison's figure is familiar. His plain
blue or black coats, his narrow trousers,
with their tendency to climb up his boots,
and his shiny hat have been described for
years in letters from Washington. His
manners, however, are Undesirable. He
is witty, ugly, good-humored and irascible
in the same minute, and the man who
thinks himself snubbed in one instance will
find himself laughing at his good humor in
the next. His friends say he is kind-hearted,
but he is too dogmatic and careless about
other peoples feelings to ever be popular
socially.
COMMISSIONER BRAGG.
Commissioner Bragg is the typical South
ern man. He is big, rough, careless about
| formalities and very vigorous in talk. In
his dress he evidently takes Attorney Gen
eral Garland for model He wears big
hat with stiff, fiat brim and top like an
| inverted stew-pan, and an overcoat which
usually has to hold on by the top buttons.
His hair it dark and pretty closely cropped,
and his beard is mostly on his chin. He
wears overgaiters, but they are not of the
light shade that dudish swells like TO show
| on Chestnut street, and even in the South
can hardly be considered a good fit.
II is about even guessing that he will divide
the honor with Attorney General Garland
next winter of being the only man in Wash
ingtOn who won't wear a dress suit Since
his appearance here he has been living at
one of the hotels, talking very little and
giving no one chance to get anything but
an outside impression of what he will do
He is very little known except among peo-
pie from his own State and even from them
the only definite information to be gained
was that he was a good railroad commits
sioner. The probability is that he will be
| pretty clear-headed in his opinions and very
5lecided in sticking TO them. He will hardly
follow Judge Cooley everywhere.
NEW YoRK's REPRESENTATIVE.
! Mr.. Schoonmaller, of New York has the
air OF a conservative business man. He
don't look exctable or easily worried, and
| has been regarding the food of callers and
| letters with praiseworthy serenity His APP
| pearance is something like that OF James G.
Blaine His hair and full beard are gray,
his nose prominent, his eyes large and his
color good, and in profile view especially
| be shows very many of Mr.. Blaine's charac-
tel'istics. His eyes, with the heavy surges
underneath them, mark the resemblance
strongly.
Mr.. Schoonmaker talks very little. He
goes at it conservatively, comfortably and
slowly, as if he would just as soon talk as
not, and he gives the impression that, while
he is willing TO discuss ordinary matters,
authoritative promises and statements can't
be maGe until he is certain about them. His
| place on the commission is a little difficult
TO indicate, but he is certainly not near so
likely TO push his own plans as Bragg Pos
slbly he will supply the balance wheel which
the concern very badly needs.
MR.. EDMUNDs' FRIEND.
Mr.. Walker, the friend of Mr. Edmunds,
has as powerful frame as the Senator must
have had in his younger days. He is over
six feet tall. br0ad-shouldered and full
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